Saturday, April 27, 2013

In the Polynesian area one of the most
characteristic and interesting types of cosmogonic myths was that which
explained the origin of the universe as due to a sort of evolutionary
development from an original chaos or nothingness; and, at least in central
Polynesia, this assumed a genealogical form. This evolutionary genealogical
type of origin-myths seems, so far as available material goes, to be lacking in
Indonesia, except in one
very restricted region, the island of Nias, lying off the western coast of Sumatra. According to myths from this island, there was
in the beginning only darkness and fog, which condensed and brought forth a
being with-out speech or motion, without head, arms, or legs; and in its turn
this being gave existence to another, who died, and from whose heart sprang a
tree which bore three sets of three buds. From the first two sets six beings
were produced, two of whom made from the third set of buds a man and a
woman—the ancestors of mankind. The several variants of the myth differ in
details, but all agree in tracing the origin of things to a primeval chaos,
from which after several generations was developed a tree that in turn gave
rise to gods and men. Although lacking the details and development found in Polynesia, these Nias myths seem to show the same
fundamental conception.

REFLECTION

The
Polynesian cosmogonic myth suggests first of all the notion of a forward
movement, not necessarily linear though genealogical in model.

The
reality of the void at the beginning of the Manvantara—great cycle of life—is
revealed. A formless Supreme Being, the One Universal Principle is outrightly
indicated. Not only that, there is also the notion of the pre-human forms, in
higher dimension, as being one “without head, arms or legs”—meaning, they were
of spiritual and etheric constitution.

Those
higher dimension beings, upon their descent to the lower spheres, of high
compassion mode (“whose heart sprang a tree”), were the precursors to the
etheric form of Pangean races. From the Pangean to the Lemurian, from the
asexually birthing to the sexually birthing humans, three ‘root races’ have
come to pass as Divine Wisdom or Theos Sophia revealed.

The
number 3 is of course the Upper Triune that was embedded in the Polynesian
collective mind and genes. A legacy of ancient Mu whose direct remnants were indeed
the Polynesians.

Monday, April 22, 2013

In
my succeeding notes I will delve on the matter of cosmogony as contained in
ASEAN myths, which is a synthesis of the objective world of cosmos and the
subjective worlds of sentient beings. Before I proceed to those note
presentations, let me articulate briefly the archetypal images in the
cosmogony.

Essentially,
three (3) archetypal images are observed across the diverse ethnicities and
cultures: sky, sea, earth. The complexity of the cosmos and subjective worlds
was attempted to be encapsulated in these archetypal images. Betwixt sky, sea,
earth is the intermediary archetype of wind, the flowing or convection of which
sort of meshes up the former 3. So that’s a 3 + 1 sort of formula all in all.

Do
note that the ancient peoples of the region went through a long dormancy of
high knowledge and high culture in the aftermath of the sinking of Poseidonis
which triggered global submarine explosions that, in turn, ended the last Ice
Age. The melting waters from glaciers, poles, and related glacial formations
caused a Deluge and obliterated knowledge and epistemes (knowledge-building
modes) of the ancients.

The
knowledge, truths and wisdom were to survive through oral modalities of
conservation and heritage, out of which evolved the folklore: myths, legends,
puzzles, idioms, related forms. Divine wisdom flowed openly to the ancient
peoples, but after the Deluge just the few Initiated Ones, notably the
shamanic-priestly caste, obtained access to high wisdom.

Out
of such preserved embeds of wisdom came the archetypes of sky, sea, earth. The
embedded codes are surely tough nuts to crack, but let us try to decode those
tough stuff just the same.

Divine
wisdom reveals that both the objective and subjective domains of reality were
emanations from the One Universal Principle or Supreme Deity, done upon the
Out-breath phase of the Manvantara or great cycle of life. From out of that
process evolved the 7th, 6th and 5th planes,
which constitute the spiritual planes. Such ontological domains would roughly
be the equivalent of the ‘sky’ archetype in ASEAN cosmogony.

From
the spiritual dimensions the cosmic element of ether was to descend downwards,
to aid in the formation of all the other elements. The possibility for
emanating objective, material domains was then increased, thus creating the 4th,
3rd and 2nd planes. Altogether, the 4th and 3rd
planes are the equivalent of the ‘wind’ archetype, while the 2nd
plane corresponds to the ‘sea’ archetype.

The
final, most dense form of domain, the physical or 1st plane, was the
last. The ‘earth’ archetype corresponds to this domain. In the last instance,
humans, plants, animals were created in this domain, which is what the ancient
Malayans-IndoMongolians-Polynesians can make sense of the creation narrative. The
‘earth’ domain was an extrapolation from their solid existential context, so we
will understand how they comprehend cosmogony during their own times as
struggling post-Glacial peoples.

As
always, the creator deities, led by the Supreme Deity, come from the ‘sky’. That
is the closest that the ancients came to the real, the truth, the knowledge.
For indeed Deities were of the 7th plane which is the dimension of
deities and/or avatars. Such deities & avatars can always descend down the
5th plane, which is the dimension of the souls.

With
this backgrounder, maybe we are ready to move on to the review of diverse
cosmogonic/creation myths.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

COSMIC, DEVIC &
TRINITARIAN GODS: PHILIPPINE MYTHOS

Erle Frayne D. Argonza /
Ra

Among ancient Filipinos, a branch of the Malayo-Mu
peoples, is the belief in the Supreme Being. The Tagalogs held the belief in
Bathala, the Supreme Deity who was also King of the Diwatas. Diwata comes
from the Sanskrit devata, meaning
deva. The belief in Bathala however goes beyond the Tagalogs, as it goes all
the way southwards to the Visayas and Java.

The Trinitarian or 3-aspect deity is traced to Vedic
knowledge of the spiritual domains. Vedic knowledge however is traceable to an
even earlier set of spiritual discourse, the Lemurian. All such discourses are
embedded calcifications of Divine Wisdom, and it takes the sharp eyes of
Initiates to extract such wisdom from the later versions (Vedic to Malayan
folklore).

The Number 3 is the Upper Triune in the Septenary
Law, while the Number 4 is the Lower Quaternary of 4 material domains and
elements. There are 3 spiritual planes, a knowledge that would come down unto
mankind as 3 aspects of Supreme Deity. In the West that Triune is Father, Son,
Spirit/Shekinah (Mother). Among ancient Bharatans (Indians) the Triune comes as
Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva.

In the Philippine-Malayan version, Bathala birthed
Apolaki, Mayari, and Tala. The mythos of Bathala and the Apolaki-Mayari-Tala
triune already contains the cosmogony of divinity and humanity, with
implications to cosmology or knowledge of the cosmos.

Below is a summary of the mythos.

[Philippines,
17 June 2011]

Bathala

According to Philippine mythology, Bathalang
Maykapal, or Bathala, was the Supreme God of the ancient Tagalog
and King of the Diwatas.
Derived from the JavaneseBatara Guru, an alternate name
for the Hindu god Shiva,
the concept of Bathala, as with many beliefs in pre-Hispanic Philippines, owe a
huge debt to the Hinduism of the SrivijayanJavanese.
All of these beliefs were soon changed after the Spaniards
set foot on the islands. Spanish missionaries used Bathala as a way for them to
convert the Tagalogs into Christianity by associating him with the Christian God.
They also did this to the other deities by replacing them with saints. Since
then, the name "Bathala" was used to refer to the Christian
God and is still used by Filipinos today, and God is even addressed as "Poong
(Panginoon, meaning "Lord") Maykapal".Bathala has counterparts in other parts of
the Philippines.
In Northern Luzon, Kabunian and Lumawig; in Southern Luzon,
Gugurang and Mangindusa; and in the Visayas,
Abba, Kan-Laon,
and Kaptan.

Apolaki,
Mayari, and Tala

Legend has it that Bathala fell in love
with a mortal woman when he was visiting the Earth. They got married and had
three children: Apolaki, Mayari, and Tala.Many years had passed and the three
younglings grew up to become mighty demigods. The time has finally come for
them to take their rightful place in Kalualhatian. There was a big feast
in the Sky World and both gods and humans were celebrating. After the feast was
done, the ceremony of initiation began. Bathala came out of the crowd and
summoned his children to stand in front of him. He then appointed them with a
task.Apolaki was appointed "God of
War" and "Guardian of the Sun". Mayari was appointed
to be "Goddess of the Moon". Tala was appointed "Goddess
of the Stars".The three offspring of Bathala soon became
known to be among the greatest of gods and goddesses.The Story of BathalaIn the beginning of time there were three
powerful gods who lived in the universe. Bathala was the caretaker of the
earth, Ulilang Kaluluwa, a huge serpent who lived in the clouds, and Galang
Kaluluwa, the winged god who loves to wander. These three gods did not know
each other. Bathala often dreamt of creating mortals but the empty earth stops
him from doing so. Ulilang Kaluluwa who was equally lonely as Bathala, liked to
visit places and the earth was his favorite. One day the two gods met. Ulilang
Kaluluwa was not pleased. He challenged Bathala to a fight to decide who would
be the ruler of the universe. After three days and three nights, Ulilang Kaluluwa
was slain by Bathala. Instead of giving him a proper burial, Bathala burned the
snake's remains. A few years later the third god, Galang Kaluluwa, wandered
into Bathala's home. He welcomed the winged god with much kindness and even
invited him to live in his kingdom. They became true friends and were very
happy for many years.Galang Kaluluwa became very ill. Before he
died he instructed Bathala to bury him on the spot where Ulilang Kaluluwa’s
body was burned. Bathala did exactly as he was told. Out of the grave of the
two dead gods grew a tall tree with a big round nut, which is the coconut tree.
Bathala took the nut and husked it. He noticed that the inner skin was hard.
The nut itself reminded him of Galang Kaluluwa’s head. It had two eyes, a flat
nose, and a round mouth. Its leaves looked so much like the wings of his dear
winged friend. But the trunk was hard and ugly, like the body of his enemy, the
snake Ulilang Kaluluwa.Bathala realized that he was ready to
create the creatures he wanted with him on earth. He created the vegetation,
animals, and the first man and woman. Bathala built a house for them out of the
trunk and leaves of the coconut trees. For food, they drank the coconut juice
and ate its delicious white meat. Its leaves, they discovered, were great for
making mats, hats, and brooms. Its fiber could be used for rope and many other
things.

In
popular culture / Language

The Filipino philosophical expression
"Bahala na!" is usually interpreted as a fatalist
remark, comparable to "Whatever will
be, will be".[1]
According to Paraluman S. Aspillera, a writer from the Philippines,
the expression and its meaning might have been altered throughout the ages. It
might have originally been "Bathala na!" ("As God wills
it!"),[2]
but was changed at one point in time. It might also be uttered when the
Filipino has exhausted all possible ways to get out of a difficult situation.[3] A
modern fuller version of the phrase is "Bahala na ang Diyos!"Also, the Tagalog
word pamahalaan (government) can be traced from the word Bathala.
According to linguistic studies, the word is a result of the full assimilation
of the prefixpang- with bathala and the suffix-an. So, the
Tagalog
term for government actually means "to Lord over" or "to be
God's vicar."

Friday, April 12, 2013

Divine
wisdom or Theos Sophia articulated well about the Supreme Deity or the One
Universal Principle. The Supreme Being has the Unmanifest and Manifest aspects,
and we can know only the Manifest aspect of that omnipresent, omniscient,
omnipotent Being.

Southeast
Asians are not wanting in knowledge of the Supreme Deity, both the Manifest and
Unmanifest facets of the Godhead. Below is a summary of deities in Malayan
myths.

Among
the many indigenous peoples in Indonesia
and Malaysia
there are several examples of dual gods and sometimes of trinities. In Sumatra, the Toba Batak see the Absolute Mula Jadi na Bolon as three
persons representing the upper, middle, and lower worlds. In Nias there is a
two-person divinity representing the dual nature of the universe—good and evil,
light and dark. For the Ngaju people of Borneo,
Jata is the feminine side of a dual godhead.
She represents the lower world and the moon. Mahatala, the male aspect, is the
upper world and the sun. Together Jata and Mahatala form the Absolute Tambon Haruei
Bungai (see Southeast Asian entries)

A
further reflection on such Beings reveal the three generic domains of Spiritual
(upper), Mental (middle), and Physical-Astral (lower) domains. As one studies
the myths across the ASEAN, one would encounter such division of domains, which
is indicative of the grasp of occult knowledge by the ancient Lemuro-Atlanteans
from whom the Malays and IndoMongolians came from.

Note
the Absolute Tambon Haruei Bungai, for instance. The Absolute is of course no
other than Supreme Deity, with both Feminine and Masculine aspects represented.
In the Malayan version, Mahatala is the male aspect while Jata is the feminine
side. The Absolute already contains both manifest and unmanifest aspects as per
inductive indications.

Jata
representing the lower world (material/physical) and the Moon also indicate the
ancient knowledge of the Lunar ‘Fathers’ (creator deities) who hastened the
creation of the first root races of humanity. Mahatala as representing the
upper world and the Sun, indicates the ancient people’s knowledge of the Solar ‘Fathers’
(creator deities) who helped to breed and accelerate the evolution of humanity
after the episode of Lunar creator deities’ involvement.

Behind the number 4 is the esoteric knowledge of the
material elements of earth, water, air, fire. The elements characterize the
four (4) material planes, to note: physical, earth element; astral, water
element; mental, air element; and, causal or ‘higher mental’, fire element. The
lower domains or dimensions of reality comprise the Lower Quaternary in the
Septenary Law.

Narratives with the number of 4, such as the Four Puppets
tale from Burma,
are fascinating as they subtly embede the four (4) elements. To recall, among
the early theories of personality goes the 4-Types personality: sanguine,
melancholic, choleric, phlegmatic. Notice the four types representing roughly
four (4) elements, to note: phlegmatic, earth; sanguine, water; melancholic,
air; and, choleric, fire.

Below is a summary of the Four Puppets Tale as an exemplar
of the Number 4 dovetailing into folklore. The denouement of the narrative
stressed on Dharma, which is sacrosanct to Divine Wisdom.

The Four Puppets
A Tale of Burma

Told by Aaron Shepard

Once there
was a puppet maker who had a son named Aung. The father always hoped his son
would grow up to be a puppet maker like himself. But to Aung, such a life was
far from exciting.

“Father,”
said Aung one day, “I’ve decided to leave home and seek my fortune.”

The puppet
maker looked up sadly from his work. “I wish you would stay, my son. The life
of a puppet maker is an honorable one. But if you must go, let me give you
companions for your journey.”

He showed
his son four wooden puppets he had carved, painted, and costumed. “Each
puppet,” he said, “has its own virtue and value.”

The first
puppet was the king of the gods. The puppet maker said, “The god’s virtue is
wisdom.”

The second
puppet was a green-faced ogre. “The ogre’s virtue is strength.”

The third
was a mystic sorcerer. “The sorcerer’s virtue is knowledge.”

The fourth
was a holy hermit. “The hermit’s virtue is goodness.”

He told
his son, “Each of these virtues can help you on your way. But remember,
strength and knowledge must always serve wisdom and goodness.”

Aung
started off the next day. On his shoulder he carried a bamboo pole, with food
and clothing tied at one end, and the puppets hanging by their strings from the
other.

When night
came, Aung found himself deep in the jungle. He stopped beneath a banyan tree.

“This
looks like a good place to sleep,” he said to himself. “But I wonder if it’s
safe.”

Then Aung
had a funny idea. “I think I’ll ask one of the puppets!” He turned with a smile
to the king of the gods. “Tell me, is it safe here?”

To his
amazement, the puppet came alive. It got down from the pole and grew to life
size.

“Aung,”
said the god, “open your eyes and look around you. That is the first step to
wisdom. If you fail to see what is right before you, how easy it will be for
others to misguide you!”

And the
next moment, the puppet was hanging again from the pole.

When Aung
had gotten over his shock, he looked carefully all around the tree. There in
the soft earth were the tracks of a tiger! That night he slept not on the
ground but in the branches above. And he was glad he did, for in the middle of
the night, he saw a tiger come prowling below him.

The next
day took Aung into the mountains, and at sunset he left the road and camped a
little way up the mountainside. When he awoke the next morning, he saw a
caravan coming along the road below. A dozen bullock carts were piled high with
costly goods.

“That
caravan must belong to some rich merchant,” Aung told himself. “I wish I had
wealth like that.”

Then he
had a thought. He turned to the green-faced ogre. “Tell me, how can I gain such
riches?”

Aung
watched in wonder as the puppet left the pole and grew to life size. “If you
have strength,” boomed the ogre, “you can take whatever you like. Watch this!”
He stamped his foot and the earth shook.

“Wait!”
said Aung. But it was too late. Just below them, dirt and rocks broke loose in
a landslide. It rushed down the mountain and blocked the road. The terrified
drivers jumped from their carts and ran off.

“You see?”
said the ogre.

“Is it
really that easy?” said Aung, in a daze.

He hurried
down to the carts and rushed from one to another, gaping at the heaps of rich
fabrics and piles of precious metals. “And all of it’s mine!” he cried.

Just then,
Aung heard a sob. Lying huddled in one of the carts was a lovely young woman
his own age. She cried and shivered in fear.

“I won’t
hurt you,” said Aung gently. “Who are you?”

“My name
is Mala,” she said in a small voice. “My father is the owner of this caravan.
We were on our way to meet him.”

All at
once, Aung knew he was in love. He wanted to keep Mala with him forever. “Don’t
worry,” he said. “I’ll take you with me and care for you.”

Mala sat
up angrily. “Go ahead! Take me, like you’re taking everything else! But you’re
just a thief, and I’ll never, ever speak to you!”

Aung was
shocked. Was he really just a thief? He didn’t know what to say.

The ogre
came up beside him then. “Don’t listen to her. She’ll change her mind—and
anyway, the important thing is you got what you wanted. Now, let’s go.”

The ogre
cleared the road, then helped Aung lead the caravan. That afternoon, they came
out of the mountains, not far from the capital city.

Aung asked
the ogre, “What should I do, now that I have all these riches?”

“Don’t ask
me!” said the ogre. “Ask the sorcerer!”

Aung
turned to the mystic sorcerer. “Can you tell me?”

The puppet
came to life and floated before him, as Mala looked on with wide eyes. “If you
want your wealth to grow,” said the sorcerer, “you must learn the secrets of
nature.”

He tapped
Aung with his red wand, and together they rose high in the air. Looking down,
Aung saw everything in a new way. He could tell what land was best for farming,
and which mountains held gold and silver.

“This is
wonderful!” said Aung. “Just think how I can help people with what I know!”

“Certainly
you could,” said the sorcerer. “But knowledge is power. Why not keep it all for
yourself instead? Isn’t that what other people do?”

“I suppose
so,” said Aung.

So they
came to the capital city. Aung became a merchant, and with the help of the ogre
and the sorcerer, he grew many times richer than at first. He bought a palace
for himself and Mala, and kept the puppets in a special room of their own.

But Aung
was not happy, for Mala still would not speak to him.

One day,
he placed before her a headdress fit for a queen. The heavy gold was set with
dozens of large rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. The magnificent piece had cost
Aung a third of his wealth.

Mala took
one look and pushed it away.

Aung was
heartbroken. He said, “Don’t you know I love you?” But she only glared at him
and said not a word.

The next
morning, Aung went to the puppets’ room and spoke to the ogre and the sorcerer.
“Mala’s father must now be very poor, while I have more than I need. I’ll help
Mala find him so I can pay him for what I took. Maybe then she’ll speak to me,
and even learn to love me.”

“A
terrible idea!” said the ogre. “You should never give up what is yours. You’re
just being weak!”

Sunday, April 7, 2013

SEA GYPSIES:
EVIDENCE OF POST-DELUGE REMNANTS

Erle Frayne D.
Argonza / Ra

Across the ASEAN are the maritime peoples
called the ‘sea Gypsies’. They are very hard to classify with other peoples
anywhere in the planet, just like their land Gypsy equivalents. Anthropologist
or ethnologists are baffled by the Gypsies, in like vein that they are puzzled
by the Basques of Europe.

Sea Gypsies have otherwise been termed as
‘human mermaids & mermen’ which seems to aptly describe them in the absence
of acceptable inferences from formal science about what they are and where they
came from. Science indeed has to catch up with the realities by discovering new
analytical tools for studying human evolution.

Incidentally, Divine Wisdom or Theos Sophia had
appresented a version of evolution that is cyclical and truly deep. In the
mystical/occult version of human science, race is a central concept, with the
law of evolution/devolution well explicated. Accordingly four (4) root-races
have come to pass, in this 4th Evolutionary Round or devic-man
phase, and we are into the 5th root race.

The last vestiges of the 4th human
generic civilization—Atlantean—sank almost 12,000 years ago. Survivors of that
last Deluge had three options to take: (a) go to very high places, nestle there
for a while, and then go back to lower lands when the waters recede; (b) build
underground cities before the Deluge, rescue as many as those who can be
accommodated, seal the cities from the Aboveground when the waters come and
continue human civilization there; and, (c) take flights in outer space via the
galactic fleets’ auspices, then return to Earth when conditions have
stabilized.

Gypsies were among those that took the 2nd
option, by going underground. Unable to adapt to the harmonized conflict-free
culture below the surface, the Gypsies could have been expelled by the underground
cities’ guardians and leaders. This theory explains why Gypsies are so hard up
in adjusting to contexts that are so alien to what they encountered before the
deluge.

Below is an account of the sea Gypsies of
Burma, with some notes about those of Thailand and peninsular Southeast.

[Philippines, 17 June 2011]

Burma "Sea Gypsies"
Compendium

Report by
Project Maje
8824 SE 9th Ave
Portland OR 97213 USAmaje@hevanet.comJune 2004Introduction"The
Salons or sea gypsies are the among the smallest minorities in Burma
and no less vulnerable or defenseless against human rights abuses committed by
the junta. They need the attention of Human Rights activists and
organizations."-- Chin Forum Information ServiceFreely roaming
the ocean in small boats from birth to death, living simply off its riches, a
Southeast Asian people seem as mythical as mermaids. These ethnic groups known
as "Sea Gypsies" are still found from the Philippines
to Borneo to Thailand to Burma. Their
lives are romantic but increasingly difficult. This report
focuses exclusively on those from Burma's waters. Burma's
"Sea Gypsies" face particular problems which may even threaten their
existence as a culture and people. Amid the vast array of documentation on Burma's human rights situation and ethnic groups
there has been very little investigation about Burma's "Sea Gypsies." A
series of books by a French ethnologist, two new books published in Burma, and a
recent documentary film are among the main resources available. There has been
little press coverage outside of a few tourism-oriented articles and a spate of
news coverage in early 2004. Even an activist from the Mon ethnic group of the
same region of Burma
comments about the "Sea Gypsies": "These people are living
offshore and rarely have communication with the people on the coast."As a
compendium, this report seeks to fill some of this information gap with a
collection of 29 documents and articles from 1997 to 2004 concerning Burma's "Sea Gypsies" in a format
accessible to those who are interested in Burma and indigenous/nomadic peoples
issues. This compendium is modeled on Project Maje's previous "A Chin
Compendium," released in 1999. The material contained here is compiled for
nonprofit public interest use. For reproduction contact the original sources.
Be sure to credit the original sources, not Project Maje, if quoting from non
Project Maje material contained here. This is not a
scientific study or a comprehensive report. It is intended as a reference and
background resource. It draws upon available information in English about
Burma's "Sea Gypsies" from an array of sources, including news
articles, tour agencies, and researchers. Project Maje, the compiler of this
report, does not endorse, confirm or deny the veracity of any of the non
Project Maje material. In some cases,
only excerpts directly relevant to the Burma "Sea Gypsies" are
included, rather than a complete article. Places where articles were cut for
excerpts are marked with three woven rattans (###.) The beginning and end of
each article is marked with three nautilus shells (@@@.)Seafaring"Not only
have the islands escaped development by the modern world, they don't even have
a significant indigenous population." -- "Adventure Travel" (a Hong Kong magazine)The "Sea
Gypsies" are known in Burma
by a name spelled in variations including "Salon,"
"Saloun," "Salone," "Salum" and
"Salong." "Salon" appears to be the most common spelling.
The Burma
regime tends to use the spelling "Salone." Project Maje has in the
past used the spelling "Saloun" for phonetic reasons. Some articles
in this compendium refer to Burma's
"Sea Gypsies" as "Moken" (or "Mawken") people,
using the name of the "Sea Gypsies" of neighboring Thailand (who
are apparently closely related.)"Moken"
is actually the most politically correct term, as it is what Burma's
"Sea Gypsies" call themselves. However, in news reports and tourism
articles about Burma,
"Moken" is not used as often as the Burmese (Salone/Salong)
terminology which serves to distinguish those in Burma
waters and under the Burma
regime's rule, from those indigenous to Thailand who have a different set
of experiences and problems. The English name "Sea Gypsies" refers to
a nomadic style of life, rather than any direct relationship to the Roma
(Gypsy) people of Europe. In French, the
descriptive phrase is "Nomades Marins" (Sea Nomads.)Burma's "Sea Gypsies" are rarely mentioned in
books or reports on the ethnic groups of Burma. This obscure status is
probably because of their inaccessibility, their lack of an armed force or
political organization, and their very small population. In the days of British
colonial rule over Burma
(1885-1948), some scrutiny was brought to bear on the "Sea Gypsies"
by traders, traders and administrators. The Burma "Sea Gypsy"
population was estimated at 1,325 in 1901, but such figures were hard to verify
due to the ethnic group's nomadic nature. A 2000 article in "The Greater
Phuket" magazine estimates between 2,000 and 3,000 "Sea Gypsies"
in Burma.
Tourist literature associated with various Thailand-based excursion companies
often diminishes the extent of Burma's
"Sea Gypsy" population, referring to their region as uninhabited, or
claiming that they exist only in one particular village. There are also
populations of "Sea Gypsies" originally from Burma's waters who live as refugees in Thailand, particularly around the port town of Ranong. In addition, there
are an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 "Sea Gypsies" indigenous to Thailand, mostly living on and around the island of Phuket.The Moken
ethnic group, including the "Sea Gypsies" of Burma and Thailand, has historically been
based around Phuket, a large Thai island which was a coastal trading center.
Phuket, now a tourist resort island, was known in Malay as "Ujong
Salang" which may or may not have given these people the name used for
them in Burma.
It has not been irrefutably determined whether the Mokens are an early
autochthonous ethnic group of Southeast Asia, or are descended from some
land-based group (such as the Mon-Khmer, Malay, or even Vedda) which took to
the sea for economic or political reasons in centuries long past.The Moken
language, which has been classified as "Austronesian" features many
Malay words, as well as strong Thai vocabulary influences. There are other
ethnic groups in Southeast Asia known as "Sea Gypsies" which do not
appear to be directly related to Burma
and Thailand's
Mokens, although they live in a similar way. These groups live off the coasts
of Malaysian and Indonesian islands including Borneo, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and the Sulu Archipelago. Burma's "Sea Gypsies" are found amid
the Mergui Archipelago, a chain of hundreds of small islands parallel to the
southeastern Burma coast
(Tenasserim) of the Indian Ocean's Andaman
Sea. Burma's regime calls this the "Myeik
Archipelago" (and calls Burma
"Myanmar.")Burma's "Sea
Gypsies" are thought to have held fast to their own traditional Animist
beliefs. French ethnologists Pierre and Jacques Ivanoff have made extensive
studies of Moken belief systems, folklore and the spiritual symbolism used in
their boat-building. There have been conversion efforts by Christian and Muslim
missionaries but these made few inroads among the Mokens. Buddhist conversion
efforts may be part of current relocation programs by the Burma regime.A maritime
hunter-gatherer culture, Burma's
"Sea Gypsies" are said to spend most of their lives on their
thatch-roofed wooden boats. In small groups, they roam among the islands,
harvesting crustaceans, turtles, and shellfish. Some accounts insist that the
Mokens do not eat fish. Sea cucumbers, a holothurian animal related to starfish
and sea urchins, are known as "trepang" or "beche de mer"
when dried and are a delicacy of Chinese cuisine which the "Sea
Gypsies" collect for trade. Several articles in the Compendium refer to
these sea cucumbers as "sea slugs" but they should not be confused
with actual sea slugs which are nudibranch snails without shells. Pearls and
decorative shells have become Moken trade commodities as well. Vegetable crops
are planted sporadically on the islands, which serve as seasonal meeting places
and storm shelters. Trained dogs are used to hunt small game on the forested
islands. Roundup"The
Salone nomads do not easily mix with other people. They do not participate in
economic, social or even cultural development of the country they live in.
Their society has different cultural values from those offered by modern
society. They are locked in the value system that they believe to be their
own." -- "Myanmar's
.net" website, 2004 Burma's "Sea
Gypsies," whose ancestors may have originally taken to the sea to avoid
conflict, were far removed from politics until the 1990s. Unlike many of Burma's ethnic groups, they never had their own
rebel army (or navy) although a few might have joined the forces of Andaman Sea
coastal Mon or Tavoyan ethnic groups, or even seafaring units of the All Burma
Students Liberation Front (ABSDF) or Arakan Army (from the Western
Burma coast.) The "Sea Gypsies" were too poor to be the
prey of pirates marauding in the Andaman
Sea. Although some have
accused Burma's "Sea
Gypsies" of being pirates themselves, there seems to be little evidence to
support this and it may come from confusing them with more aggressive "Sea
Gypsy" groups from elsewhere in Southeast Asia.In the late
1990s a few reports leaked out about forced relocation by Burma's military regime of Burma's
"Sea Gypsies" to on-land sites. At least one such report claimed that
most of them had been relocated by 1997. This practice would be consistent with
an enormous pattern of forced relocation of suspect ethnic, economic and
political groups, conducted throughout Burma, particularly in the late
1990s.The Andaman Sea
off the Tenasserim coast received increasing attention from Burma's regime
during the 1990s due to offshore petroleum exploration, discoveries and
transport by multinational corporations including Unocal, Total, Premier,
Petronas and others. This led to a drastically heightened military security
presence, with fishing communities of the Mon and Tavoyan ethnic groups moved
elsewhere and small-scale fishing boats chased away. The increased presence of
foreign trawler fleets under joint-ventures with the regime also discouraged
small-scale local fishing. While the
effects of the 1990s developments on the "Sea Gypsies" off the
southern coast of Burma were
less well-known than those on the Mons
and Tavoyans to the north of the Mergui Archipelago, reports indicated that the
"Sea Gypsies" suffered as well. An unknown number of them are have
said to have fled to Thailand.
There the men reportedly took jobs on Thai fishing boats, a dangerous and often
economically exploitive situation. Most of the fishing boats used legitimate
methods, but there was considerable use of dynamite fishing by Thailand-based
fleets as well. Refugee "Sea Gypsy" women and girls may have ended up
in prostitution in Thailand's
notorious port brothels, where HIV/AIDS exposure was extremely widespread.

About Me

Fraternal Greetings! I'm a sociologist, economist, development worker, life coach, poet, musical artist, and powerlifter... I've authored voluminous academic articles, technical papers, wisdom & life coaching articles, and four (4) books to date... I obtained my university degrees from the Philippines' top schools, the University of the Philippines (BA & MA sociology) and De La Salle University (MA Development Studies). I belong to the upper 0.5% aptitude-wise (IQ past 150), and had demonstrated this gifted capacity through various innovations on social technologies and theoretical discourses with originality and depth. I look forward to engaging exchanges with you. Carpe Diem!
Please contact me thru: efdargon@gmail.com

Welcome to Ascension, Cosmic Awareness, Oneness!

Hi Friend! It's truly a gracious moment that you passed by.
This site projects messages of oneness and cosmic awareness. Certain practical tools will be shared along the way, if you care to follow them you may experience ascension to the next dimension of your spiritual journey.
Enjoy your excursion here. Mabuhay!